The old house squatted at the edge of town like a mean old dog and stared out from behind the trees with a distinct edge of hostility about it.

Amina had seen it often, on her way back from work. The bus would stop by the red light and she would watch it, cautiously, suspiciously, through the everpresent rain.

She had lived in the City her whole life, yet could not remember a single instance of a cloudless sky. A city of tears, she had thought once. Now she didn't know what to think.

The House sat in a field bordered by a train track, a fence and two roads. It seemed too grand for its surroundings. Almost like a castle, or a mansion, Amina thought. If only it hadn't been so...

So what?

The red light turned yellow, then green. The bus began to accelerate.

Suddenly Amina found herself seized by an overwhelming curiosity. She hurried to get up from her seat, raced to the front and shouted:

"Stop! Stop the bus!"

The driver shot her a dirty look, but otherwise didn't comment.

And then she was outside.

As she walked down the long driveway towards the squatting house, rainwater splashing against the bottom hem of her raincoat with every step she took through the puddles, she began to question her decision.

The house seemed even more menacing from this angle.

She could see more of it now, for one thing.

She stopped and took it all in, unsure of what to do next. She looked up to the windows of the house, imagined meeting its gaze head on.

"I'm not scared of you", she mumbled.

But she hesitated all the same.

Unbeknownst to her, from one of the windows of the house something (someone?) was watching back.

She could feel the eyes watching her, but she could not see any face structure, no sockets, no eyelids, no oval silhouette. Just the intimidating presence of someone, not quite touching her but a tingle across her skin. Not behind her nor in front, just eyes that dared her to come into the house. The eyes that scare you but tell you to "follow" or something worse is to come. Amina ran off as soon as the bus stopped, into the forest, in the general direction of the house but avoiding running straight up to it. She ran in zigzags through the trees, delaying her arrival, but she knew that if nobody took the initiative to find what was in that house, more people would suffer. She slowly left the protection of the last trees as she entered the yard. To her surprise